All Exercise machines names you can see in a gym(with functions)

This is a very common problem faced by beginners. They join a gym, they look at different machines, but they find it hard contemplate how many of these machines function. And, for many it seems very amateur to go to someone and ask. Many people are shy too.

Whatever the reason is, not being able to know what each and every machine does is not good. A man or woman can only become great by utilising each and every resource at his/her disposal. Lets move forward without being too philosophical.

So, you decide to go to google to solve the problem, but that is also not an option as you don’t even know the name of each machine. Here you will find exercise machines names that you can encounter at a gym. There is no special order. There are some exercises that you do by combining more than one gym equipments, we will also look into them.

Exercise machines names and their functions

Peck deck

Pec dec is generally used for training your chest. It performs the same function as dumbbell flys. It is one of the best machines to add mass to your chest as it target inner pecs a little more. It can also be used to train your rear delts.

Smith machine

It is probably the most versatile machine in a gym. You can do bench press, squats, barbell shoulder press, etc. on a smith machine. It is extremely useful machine for beginners, because you don’t have to worry about dropping the weights. Even experienced people can use smith machine, in order to push their limits in a little safe way.

Hammer strength exercise machines names

Hammer strength iso-lateral row machine

It is the one of the best machines for your upper back. It helps you strengthen your back for the perfect posture. There can be different style of iso-lateral row machines, but the core concept would be same, that is, rowing. These machine allows you to do one hand at a time, which helps you to concentrate better on portion of muscles. This machine is available as high and low row machine.

Hammer strength iso-lateral pulldown machine

It works majorly on your lats, but if you do it properly it can work on your entire back. The trick is to allow your lats to stretch as much as possible. And, while coming down make sure to squeeze. The design of the hammer strength can be different. Weights can be in front of you or behind you, don’t get confused.

Hammer strength iso lateral shoulder press

It is a great way to train your front and mid delts. As it is a iso-lateral machine, you can work on one shoulder at a time. Apart from shoulders, it also works on the triceps. You can adjust the seating position to work more on your front delts or lateral delts.

hammer strength iso lateral leg press

Iso-lateral leg press allows you to train your entire leg while being in a sitting position. Many people prefer sitting over lying. Secondly, you can train one leg at a time, as it is iso-lateral. Plus, unlike normal leg press machine the entire weight is equally divided on both the legs. People in normal leg press tend to use their stronger leg more.

Hammer strength machine for forearms

Hammer strength grip machine

This machine is designed to target your forearms and it does much better job than any other exercise for your forearms. It not only makes your forearms thick and strong, but also makes your fingers strong.

All you have to do is curl or squeeze the two bars together. If you keep a pronated grip, then it will train your brachioradialis and if you keep a supinated grip then it will train your flexors.

Preacher curl machine

If you want to add thickness to your biceps, then you should surely be acquainted with this machine. It basically simulates what you do on a preacher bench. But, as it is a machine with cables and aligned weights you can lift much heavier weight compared to what you can on a normal bench. If you want to just target the short head of the biceps, you can adjust the machine to go down just below your elbow and squeeze hard at the top. To target both the heads, go as low as you can.

Lat pull down

As the name suggests, it majorly target your lats. But, it is very effective with upper back also. The range of motion determines whether you are targeting your lats more or the upper back. If your range of motion is between top and middle, then it will focus on upper back. But, if you are using full range of motion the tension will move towards your lats. You can use supinated grip to train biceps.

Standing calf raise machine

Standing calf raises trains your calf muscles. The only thing you need to remember is targeting your calfs from different angles, otherwise you won’t see a proper development. To hit these muscle from different angles, you have to change the position of your ankles with respect to your toes. Ankles pointed towards or away from each other, will target different side of the calf muscles.

Rowing machine

It is an all-in-one machine, which lets you train your legs, back, shoulders, biceps, forearms, etc. Most of the people use it as a complete body warm-up machine. In this machine, you have to push yourself back and forth, which pulling bar connected to the cable.

AB crunch machine

Although, most of the body builder prefer to use free weight or just body weight to work on their abs, but using this machine certainly won’t hurt you. In fact, it is beneficial to train the same muscle using different methods and angles. Crunch machine also lets you add heavy weight, which you can’t do with free weights. In the picture, you are seeing a hammer strength machine.

Leg extension machine

Leg extension machine primarily focus on your quads. The big quads that you see on the bodybuilders is partly due to leg extension machine. To use this machine properly you have to think about two things 1) Squeeze and hold at the top 2) Keep your knees at a ‘fist’ distance. Leg extension machine is also used for warming up your legs

Lying t-bar row machine

T-bar row is a very effective exercise for your middle back. But, it can be very tedious to arrange the barbell in a corner and putting weight over it to prevent it from moving. Lying t-bar row machine allows you to completely focus on your workout. Since, you are in a lying position, you body is stabilised. This helps you concentrate all the tension on the desired part(mid-back). This exercise will give maximum benefit if you properly squeeze your shoulder blades together.

Pull-up machine

The pull-ups you do on this machine are known as “machine assisted pull-ups”. It is a good way for beginners to gain a little strength, so that they can graduate to proper pull-ups. Or, even experienced body builders can use it to finish a tiring back workout, with a very little energy left.

Triceps extension machine

It is a very simplified alternative to overhead triceps extension. When you are performing triceps extension, you have to worry a lot about keeping your elbows close, not dropping the weights or hitting the weights on your head. With triceps extension machine you can fully focus on stretching the long head of the triceps. The more you stretch the better. A trick is bow your head down, this will help you to channel all your power to the triceps.

thigh abductor machine

This machine is basically designed to hit your inner thighs. Frankly, most of the leg exercises do not focus that much on the inner thighs. Although, you can position your feet in order to direct the tension towards there, but it is not as much effective as an abductor machine. Some people find it hard to get into a proper position on this machine. Here is a video that can help you.

Lateral raise machine

As it is a lateral raise it works on your mid-delts. Many people find it difficult to lateral raise with a proper form. Plus, using a dumbbell can cause pain in the joints. Lateral raise machine takes all the tension from the wrist and the elbow, and channels it to just your shoulders. Using a machine on shoulder decreases the chance of injuries. And, like dumbbell raise, you can do single hand or both hands together.

Dips machine

The compound exercises are valued by all the professional body builders and athletes, due to there capacity to produce testosterone. Dips are one of these exercises that work on multiple muscle groups.

But, it is not very easy for beginners. And, a wrong move can easily cause shoulder injury. Dips machine helps you target chest, shoulders, triceps(mainly) and biceps. With minimum risk of injury.

Chest press machine

Like dumbbell press, chest press machine lets you target your chest, front delts and triceps. The advantage the chest press machine has over the dumbbell press is that you can exercise in a controlled motion. You don’t have to worry about dropping the weights or stabilising it, you can focus on squeezing at the top, which is the most important part of the exercise.

Sitting leg curl machine

It performs the same task as the leg curl machine, but in this you can sit while doing it. It is much comfortable to sit, then to lie and look back frequently to adjust your feet positions. Although, for a better development of hamstrings it is important to use both these machines. The problem with sitting curls is that you tend to use jerks and other muscles to curl, which will kill the effectiveness of the exercise.

Hyper extension machine

As the name suggests it is a machine for performing hyper extension. Doing hyper extension on a machine is much more effective than doing it on the floor, as the range of motion is wider. Hyper extension machine is best for your lower back. Initially, you can just use the body weight, after a while you can use some weights as well. The farther you hold the weight from your body the difficult it becomes.

Leg press machine

It is considered a complete leg workout machine. It can target you glutes, hams, quads and calves. Depending upon the position of your feet, different muscles will be used. For example, if you keep your feet at the top of the board, you are training your hams and glutes. If your feet position is at the bottom of the board, then you target the quads. In the middle, will divide the tension equally on all muscles.

These were the all exercise machines names. When you are beginner, you will find all these machine more than ample for you. Even a advance level athlete won’t need anything more.